Chainsaw-Wielding Man Terrorizes Venice Boardwalk

A shop owner captured a bizarre — and potentially dangerous — scene unfold on the Venice Beach Boardwalk Tuesday, showing a man wielding a chainsaw yell at random individuals passing by.

“It was very scary,” said Viviane Robertson, who has owned a shop on the iconic boardwalk for 20 years and recorded officers arrest the man. “Somebody walking around with a chainsaw. You don’t expect that.”

Individuals reviewing the video have noted that the chainsaw appears to be electric and was unplugged. Nevertheless, the chainsaw's blades were sharp and the man could have still employed it as a weapon.

A man was arrested for yelling at passerby while wielding a chain saw on the Venice boardwalk. (Image source: KCAL-TV)

Police responded to the scene with their firearms drawn, demanding the man drop the chainsaw.

“The police came up in their cars, and just started drawing their guns in my direction, so I was really panicking,” Robertson told KCAL-TV.

A man was arrested for yelling at passerby while wielding a chain saw on the Venice boardwalk. (Image source: KCAL-TV)

A witness, however, said the irate man refused to comply.

“He didn’t drop it and he got closer and [officers] actually kicked the chainsaw out of his hands,” witness Spencer Davis told KCAL-TV. “I keep telling myself: In Venice, you never know what you’re going to see. And every time I think I’ve seen it all, something else happens.”

Officers were able to eventually arrest the man, whose identity has not yet been released.

According to KCAL-TV, initial 911 calls indicated an individual was lying unconscious on the boardwalk while the man with the chainsaw yelled at passerby. Police never found a victim.

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